I'm sorry, folks, but I'll have to *vehemently **disagree *with a lot of what has been said in this thread. To the OP, I'm sorry I didn't reply any sooner.
No, you *don't need *to go reading about what MVC means. Django is a *MTV *framework, not *MVC*. There are similarities, but the differences are enough to confuse your head if this is your first time with either one. You should definitely stick to Django Book[1] for a definition on what Models, Views and Templates are. Everyone who says otherwise is wrong. Once you're comfortable with Django, feel free to explore other frameworks so you can weigh the pros and cons yourself. No, you *don't need* to read the Python PEP on DB-API (?!?!). I'll go as far as say you *shouldn't.* Not now and not for any time in the foreseeable feature. You won't need to write raw SQL in Django until you've reached a big bottleneck, and one that can't be solved in any other way. Writing raw SQL is exactly what Django wants you to *stop* doing. The ORM doesn't only exist in order to speed up development. It provides a layer of abstraction that also allows for easy refactoring and code improvement. SQL is not as flexible. The only PEP you need to read right away is PEP 8[2]. Learn it, love it, memorize it, use it. Everything else will only bring marginal benefits at such an early stage in the learning curve while also carrying a level of complexity that will most likely be a hindrance to your overall experience. Follow the tutorials and the django book (while outdated, most of it should work fine). When asking questions, remember to paste a *full *traceback and code examples. It might not make any sense to you, but eventually you'll learn your way around it. #django on freenode is rather helpful for quick questions and, if you know how to ask your question[3], this mailing list will also prove useful. Finally, If you need some pointers on HTML/CSS/JS, start with the HTML5 boilerplate[4] "framework". Everyone and their grandma seem to be using it nowadays. It will give you enough of a starting point that should make cross-browser compatibility as painless as possible, and should get you going in a flash. I hope you find my advice convincing enough so that it may prevent you from hurting your own learning process. I wish you only the best! Good luck and happy coding! André Terra [1] http://djangobook.com/en/2.0/chapter01/ [2] http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/ [3] https://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/UsingTheMailingList [4] http://html5boilerplate.com/ On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 2:40 AM, Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfr...@ix.netcom.com>wrote: > On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 19:30:37 -0800 (PST), Chris Kavanagh > <cka...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > >Well, I was referring to the database part, but really I need to learn > >more about web development too. I know HTML, CSS, JavaScript vaguely, > >and that's about it. Since I LUV Python (like I said, a beginner in > >Python) I figured Django would be a good place to start learning web > >dev.Am I wrong?? You're saying INSTEAD OF Django, learn an MVC? I was > >under the impression Django was an MVC, am I wrong?? > > > I think the advice was to learn MVC /as concepts/ (or theory), NOT > as a particular implementation. Once you understand how MVC separates > the parts of an application then you can examine how Django implements > MVC. > > I'd add the same comment with regards to database -- don't learn "A" > relational database system, but instead learn the concepts of relational > databases (which means learning at least the first three Codd Normal > Forms <G>). Then add SQL in general (inner/left/right joins, sorting, > etc.). > > Then, if you need it (you intend raw SQL access rather than using an > object-relational manager (ORM -- SQLAlchemy, for example), study the > Python PEP that discusses the DB-API, since many of the basic database > adapters implement that interface (at this point you may need to learn > the specifics of the database adapter you are using: MySQLdb uses %s for > positional placeholder, whereas SQLite3 uses ?). > > -- > Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber AF6VN > wlfr...@ix.netcom.com HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/ > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Django users" group. > To post to this group, send email to django-users@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > django-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/django-users?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Django users" group. To post to this group, send email to django-users@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to django-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/django-users?hl=en.
